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Ernie and Nick hit reset

Exclusive: new venture for drift kings

Published: 2nd March 2016

Drift kings Ernie Vigil and Nick Apex are planning a series of videos to celebrate the heritage of the new Triumph range, FTR can reveal.

“Doing what we do it’s crucial we keep pressing the reset button every year to keep it fresh, to keep it a little bit uncomfortable and to keep it fast paced. The new Triumph motorcycles give us a real opportunity to try something a bit different this year and that’s what we intend to do,” said Nick.

Nick struts his stuff in Canada

He is speaking after landing in London on a whistle-stop tour to put the new Speed Triple R through its paces, and admits he’s massively jet-lagged.

“It’s Friday so it must be London,” he jokes as he takes time out from the launch show alongside drift buddy Ernie Vigil.

Now a resident of Las Vegas, the Seattle-born king of the slide has travelled the world alongside his close pal during the last year. So much so, he’s starting to lose track of where he is. For the record he’s at the London Motorcycle Show a matter of hours after landing at Heathrow Airport and jumping on Triumph’s spanking new Speed Triple R for the very first time.

“It’s a beautiful bike and even with major jet-lag the ride by wire and rider mode mean it’s so intuitive you can have total control… if you want it,” he said.

He and Sultan of Sideways Vigil eschew the luxury of traction control and ABS as they search for that little bit extra from their duels. Fresh from an impromptu stunt show outside a police station in Peru, the pair took to a makeshift track at London’s Excel Arena to check out the 1050 Triple.

Ernie said: “It was polished concrete coated with paint so we should have got it into rain mode to make life easy, but where’s the fun in that?”

We are looking to film something that recreates the café racer scene of the 60s. Getting permission to do stuff on the street might be tricky but we aim high.

Ernie Vigil

Days after the launch the pair were off to another show in Canada, but FTR managed to stop them in their tracks first to elaborate on their plans for 2016.

Nick said: “Triumph are celebrating the modern classics so expect more from us using Scramblers, Bonnies and classic café racers like the Thruxton. We love the whole Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride vibe and want to slant some of our stuff closer to that in 2016.

“We are looking to film something that recreates the café racer scene of the 60s. Getting permission to do stuff on the street might be tricky but we aim high.”

Ernie and the burn

The best buddies, who insist they never argue and have a “near telepathic” relationship during their shows, are also working on a sequel to 2014’s Scramble Me project.

Ernie said: “We want to get two new Triumph Scramblers and take them off and on road with real long travel suspension and really put them to the test. We’re also looking at things we could do with the new Tigers, but those plans aren’t so well advanced yet.”

So if you’re a stunt fan or just like seeing how far Triumph’s motorcycles can go, watch this space.

Ernie and Nick’s latest video filmed in Peru – titled City Is My Playground Lima is not for the faint hearted…